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School attorney gives details of financial consultant’s workflow
District procurement audit highlights 5 findings
BY BRUCE MILLS bruce@theitem.com
BY BRUCE MILLS bruce@theitem.com
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A separate audit of purchase processes of Sumter School District found the district didn’t follow its own procurement policy, according to an independent accountant’s report. Among her findings in her procurement audit last fall, auditor Robin Poston found two sole source procurements that didn’t have adequate documentation to provide justification for solesource determination and “numerous instances” of approved “emergency procurements” that should have been solicited during a longer time frame for the most competitive pricing. Poston, of Harper, Poston & Moree, P.A., also conducted the district’s annual audit of
Read the full procurement audit report at theitem.com.
financial statements last fall that showed the district overspent by $6.2 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016. The Sumter Item did not become aware of the procurement audit until last week but found it on the district’s website. Public school districts are required by the state to have procurement audits once every three years, and Sumter’s audit last fall was for the time frame July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2016. Regarding sole source documentation, Poston’s findings revealed the district didn’t maintain a listing of sole source procurements as indi-
cated in its procurement manual. In her examination, Poston found two procurements that were listed as sole source procurements but neither had adequate sole-source determinations. The two procurements were for $37,225.98 and $27,780, respectively. When contacted Friday, Poston said the district had a new person in charge of procurements and that individual wasn’t aware she needed to maintain files on sole-source procurements. Poston was provided the two sole sources by district staff, since separate filing wasn’t maintained. In her recommendations, Poston said the district needed to provide justification as to why only one source of required
SEE AUDIT, PAGE A10
The consultant hired by Sumter School Board to guide the district through its debt crisis has a detailed three-step process that he’s working through to get the district back on solid ground, says the board’s attorney. HALLIGAN Looking at the process as a “three-year period under review” with different topics fitting into the individual years is the best way to illustrate consultant Scott Allan’s work, according to attorney William “Bick” Halligan. “It’s a complicated task, but the goals are stated pretty simply,” Halligan said. “You got to know what happened last year — that’s the
explanation. You got to make sure you’re fixing it for this year, and then you have to make your plans on how to run efficiently next year.” The audit report from last fiscal year, released in December, showed the district over-spent by $6.2 million last fiscal year and had an ending general fund balance on June 30, 2016, of $106,449 — a critically low level, according to auditor Robin Poston. Allan began his work with the district Jan. 10 and basically five weeks into his post he’s expected to provide his analysis of the root causes of how the district overspent by $6 million on Monday at the board’s regularly scheduled meeting. According to Allan, he’s specifically looking at areas that caused the district to go
SEE ATTORNEY, PAGE A10
Caine says the Air Force made him a better man Colonel to retire at end of March after 30 years BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
JIM HILLEY / THE SUMTER ITEM
Col. Scott “Citizen” Caine, vice commander of the Ninth Air Force, receives a ceremonial flag during his retirement at a ceremony Friday at Shaw Air Force Base.
Maj. Gen. Scott Zobrist said 10 minutes of words could not do justice to the career of Col. Scott Caine. Zobrist, commander of the Ninth Air Force, was the presiding officer at a ceremony Friday at Shaw Air Force Base honoring Caine, who will retire at the end of March. “He has been a guiding light, a north star,” Zobrist said of Caine. Caine will retire after serving 30 years in the Air Force including five years at Shaw, first as director of
operations for the Ninth Air Force and as vice commander. Zobrist said the Air Force will lose 30 years of experience, but it will continue thanks to all the work Caine has done. “He has an amazing history and has done some incredible stuff,” he said. Zobrist also spoke highly of Caine’s wife of 31 years, Pam, and his children, Elizabeth, Scott Jr. and Mark. “The family serves in a different way and make sacrifices other people don’t understand,” Zobrist said. Scott “Citizen” Caine en-
tered the Air Force in 1987 after graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in electrical engineering. While in the Air Force, he had assignments around the U.S. and at Osan Air Force Base, Korea, and Spangdahlem, Germany, where he was a flight commander during the Bosnia conflict. Caine has logged more than 3,400 flying hours including combat missions in support of operations Deny Flight, Decisive Endeavor, Deliberate Guard and
SEE CAINE, PAGE A11
General sessions court handles most drug and forgery cases BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com If you find yourself on trial for forgery or drug charges you will most likely be in a courtroom at Sumter County Judicial Center on North Harvin Street in general sessions court. General sessions, also known as criminal court, is one part of the circuit court, said Sumter County Clerk of Court Jamie Campbell. The other part of circuit court is court of common pleas, he said. Crimes committed against state laws are tried in circuit courts, which represent different regions of the state.
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There are 16 circuit courts in South Carolina that encompass two or more counties. Criminal and civil court trials in Sumter, Lee, Clarendon and Williamsburg counties are handled by the Third Judicial Circuit Court. Third Circuit Solicitor Ernest “Chip” Finney III said there is one week each month of general sessions trials in Sumter, Clarendon and Lee counties. He did not specify trial weeks for Williamsburg County. He said two judges come in during trial weeks to help quickly move, or close, cases. Finney said there are about 3,000
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cases pending so the solicitor’s office tries to move as many cases as possible during the one week of jury trials each month. He said the court schedule is set by South Carolina Court Administration in Columbia, with input from the solicitor’s office. The court normally closes five to 10 criminal trial and plea cases during jury trial weeks, he said.
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Trial week usually starts with the selection of one or two juries on Monday for the one or two jury trials scheduled at the beginning of the week, he said. The judge will typically take about one hour to qualify the jurors to make sure they are suited for trial, he said. A typical general sessions trial courtroom will consist of one judge, the judge’s law clerk, a court reporter, one staff member from the clerk of court office, legal teams for the state and defendant, the jury, a victim’s advocate, at least two sheriff’s deputies and three
SEE COURT, PAGE A8
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